#theres always that one background character in the family of main characters

[burning-thistles-bt]

my fav is oakfur becauss oakfur (i literally do not remember who they are because i remember NOONE)

he had that one scene in ch 161 and that was IT

[alittlebitofloveliness]

3, 4, 7, 9 (outsiders asks)

EEEEE thanks for the ask anon!

3. Favourite character outside the main seven

Tim Shepard! I feel like Hinton threw mentions of him and Curly in there as a sort of foil to Darry and Ponyboy's dynamic but I have SOOOO many headcanons about him (and Curly and Angela too).

PS. The only reason I said Tim and not Angela is because she's not technically mentioned in the book. Angela is my favourite outsiders universe character ever and since theres not enough content for her I've decided I have to make my own lmao

4. Rank the main seven

OOF omg ok this was a hard one

First, Steve. Probably seems really random and unpopular but I feel like theres so much depth to his character that there just wasn't enough book to provide. We know he has a rough background and a soft spot for Sodapop and that Ponyboy's narration of him is biased since he thinks Steve doesn't like him. Tbh tho I think Steve really does care about Ponyboy in his own way, it's just hard for Ponyboy (and probably a lot of younger readers to see). My love of Steve was kind of an evolution but I can firmly say he's my favourite out of the gang atp.

Second, Darry. My man was a 20 y/o whose parent died who had to give up on his dreams to raise two younger brothers who he loved so much the feelings bled off the page. He NEVER should have hit ponyboy and it was such an out of character moment for him- AS IT WAS INTENDED TO BE. I have a LOT of thoughts about him but as someone who has grown that I'm almost the same age as him I cant IMAGINE having gone through what he went through and dealt with it as well as he did. My man needs more recognition.

Third, Ponyboy. He's such a dumbass and a weirdo but so reltable and sarcastic and profound. He's a main character who never gets in the way of other main characters and he's so quintessentially 13 that reading his story when I was that age fundamentally altered my brain chemistry and I haven't been the same since.

Fourth, Johnny. He was the gangs favourite for a reason and such a good friend to Ponyboy. I feel like the fandom infantilizes him sometimes, which is partially due to Ponyboy's narration, but the book makes it clear he's a really tough kid who looks like trouble but isn't. He's such a prime example of how the lottery of birth can fuck up someone's life. He is so tragic to me because he never had a chance.

Fifth, Sodapop. I know he's a fan favourite and I'm not saying I don't like him, but he's just kind of...boring? imo. Like, not much there, and not as much depth as some of the other characters. maybe its because we see a lot more of him in Ponyboy's thoughts but I'm not curious about him the way I am about some of the others.

Sixth, Dally. He's not likeable- but he is, as johnny said, gallant. I know it was by design that he's mysterious but I wish we got more backstory for him. I've just never connected to him the way I connected to other characters.

Seventh, Two-Bit. Again, probably unpopular and I know he's a fandom favourite but to me his issues have always jumped out more than his redeeming qualities. His alcoholism is a hallmark of his character, and i think at one point Ponyboy mentions he's a dead weight on his family's finances. He also has a little sister that's Ponyboy's age thats mentioned like once? I just feel like he's kind of a deadbeat for his family if that makes sense.

7. Favourite non romantic relationships. i could (and probably should atp, whoops this got long) make a whole other post about this but:

darry and ponyboy's relationship

johnny and ponyboy's friendship

steve and sodapop's frienship

johnny and dally's relationship

9. Favourite scene/moment from the book?

When Ponyboy runs directly into Darry's arms as soon as he sees him at the hospital. Gets me right in the feels every time.

Bonus: the moment when that guy tells Ponyboy he shoudn't smoke and he's all confused, like why? theres not a no smoking sign? and the dude is just like uh? but youre a kid? it's just such a stark reminder that while Ponyboy has grown up sheltered in some ways he has absolutely not been in others and his background is really rough and agh it gets me every time its such a clever scene.

ANYWAY this got longer than i meant it to, whoops. Thanks ever so much for the ask :)

[halfbit]

hey! this is chance & here’s week 2's prompt. when you write or create an oc, do you like to reference elements from your life? if yes, name a few. if no, why not?

id say every oc i create has some relation to myself!

whether that be my anxieties, my experiences, or my hopes, they're all definitely based and formed from my own life and brain.

protagonists tend to be the most similar to me in their origins although their ways they've responded to it vary. the most consistent traits we share are usually a similar ethnic background to me, general fashion sense, and they're often transmasc. it does depend on the work tho.

boram is a manifestation of my wishes, anxieties, and traumas. she's got parts of me i hate, things i admire, and things i wish i could move past.

personally i find adding pieces of myself to my characters makes me grow more attached to them and helps me become more aware of myself at the same time.

less specific to ocs and more about the worlds in general i make, but my life experiences tend to show there. some of my works have this grungy dying beachtown aesthetic, paired with a stark difference between boutique historical main streets and the pot-hole filled back roads where people actually live, and with excursions to roads people always pass by in places that aren't quite rural but are nowhere near the suburbs either. because thats what i grew up with, it feels nostalgic to me, and its a particular flavor of world that i think is uniquely me. there's always a focus on the servants, the ordinary, the lives of the less exciting, especially when they're in close proximity to people who might as well be from entirely different worlds. like my one isekai where the protagonist ends up as a stableboy for a noble family, theres things far beyond him going on on that property, but he's got horses to take care of, that's what his focus will be. and yeah lol

[rockingego]

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୨⎯ Welcome!!⎯ ୧

⋇⊶⊰❣Info About Me!!❣⊱⊷⋇

╰┈➤Names!!

I'm weird with names tbh Best way someone has ever described it is that Im genderfluid but with namesI have plenty of names that can all be found here but the most common ones are:

☆Netto/Net

���Dorit

☆TOby/Tobi

★Rock

☆Ego

★Laika/Lai

☆Search

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Feel free to pick whichever one you'd like to call me

⋇⊶⊰❣Pronouns!!❣⊱⊷⋇

╰┈➤Any pronouns that AREN'T She/Her are a-okay with me I usually prefer He/Him Xe/Xir or They/Them but feel free to use any pronouns on me ESPECIALLYYYY other neopronouns

⋇⊶⊰❣Interests❣⊱⊷⋇

╰┈➤ Theres a lot and I'll add to the list whenever needed but the main ones are:

☆Rockman.EXE

★Rockman Classic Series

☆Demon Slayer

★Vocaloid (kinda)

☆Project Sekai

★Spy×Family

☆Kara No Kioku

★The Property Of Hate

☆The Amazing Digital Circus

More may appear every now and then on this account

⋇⊶⊰❣Other Socials❣⊱⊷⋇

☆Pinterest! (Practically Dead)

★Ao3!

☆Fandom! [Only active on the PjskWiki]

I do have a discord but you have to dm me for it I'm not just putting it on my profile

⚠︎DNI⚠︎

•Homophobes

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•Ableist

•Racist

•Proshipper/Profic or whatever its called now

•MAP

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⋇⊶⊰❣Request Criteria❣⊱⊷⋇

Requests are always open I just can't gurantee it'll be good or I can get it done right awayPlease do not ask for:

•NSFW

•Proships

•An entire piece with background and multiple characters fully shaded and everything yknow

╰┈➤If you want a huge complex thingy or whatever please DM me about possibly commisioning instead! I prefer commisions in Nintendo Giftcards or Discord Nitro!! Feel free to DM if interested

Feel Free To Request:

☆Any character from a SFW franchise!!

★Ships

☆Silly comic requests maybe? Depends on length

Please remember these are **request!** I might not get to them quickly or be able to do what you want me to.

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#Net's Brain Dumps- Random things I think up that I might dump onto here

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#Net's Asks- My responses to whatever asks I get! My art requests are also under this tag

#Net's horrible life choices- stupid shit I've done

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#She-Ra the catty car- my cat!!!

╰┈➤And that's all folks!! Enjoy the ride!!╚══════════ஓ๑☆๑ஓ══════════╝

[ilikelookingatthings]

This is myfaveisfuckable mod! I haven't gotten around to reading the Ouran manga, so all I have to go on is the anime lol but I do think I want to read it after seeing how much background information is in it

Mr fujioka playing matchmaker while in a fake marriage is amazing! I bet itd be pretty interesting to see bc traditional wooing wouldn't work very well for either loid or yor

And OMG dark magician Anya would be sooo cute, I bet she'd use belzeneff telling her things as an excuse a lot for knowing stuff she shouldn't... She starts carrying around Mr chimera for the same purpose and can never quite get over her incredulousness when even the teachers start to believe her.... And her scheming to help nekozawa and his sister reunite aaaaa she'd fit in to this universe strangely well

Sorry if I keep being annoying or anything! I'm just having a lot of fun playing with the idea 😅

nah, not annoying at all. always fun to chat :)

also definitely right anya fits in surprisingly well. I'm now kindof imagining the entire class getting to visit or transfer over for time in Ouran. weirdly fun to imagine how all the kids would bounce off everyone in ouran.

oh and their elegant teacher....just imagining how elegant he would find tamaki and the gang. so many fun parallels or contrasts to play with all the kids and the main caste but even the side characters..and all of them are rich and theres no way to know which side or how which group would escalate a ridiculous situation or be the straitman to the situation.

the belzeeff doll would freak those kids out so much.

and go for it. as much as I love the Ouran anime to bits its definitely not getting a new season anytime soon and there are reasons Ouran as a manga won so many awards.

though honestly can you just imagine anya's best friend becky who's family owns so many army defense stuff and tries to be all mature going toe to toe with kyoya and his second force. or butting heads with renge?

I hope that one really weird daylight spy that had been fired after loid reversed his reversal on damien's grades ends up in ouran somehow.

and all those life lessons for the kids..especially damien putting pressure on himself to get noticed by his family having so many parallels with all of the characters.

especially considering how smart all the characters are grades wise eden can't look down on them...though just imagine they taking the kids to the expo on bond hanging out with tamaki's dog.

Tamaki or the group trying to help anya get along with damien more unaware of the bonus motives.

damien's best friends/lackeys who call him boss just omparing and contrasting with hikaru and kaoru who call tamaki boss but who like to make fun of their dear lord XD

kyoya just sensing the tamaki vibes from anya as she keeps trying to connect with damien.

just imagine everyone playing kick the can with the starlight kick

[phanfictioncatalogue]

hey there! searched the faq but not sure it was there, theres this older fic theyre at boarding school and its the fantastic foursome, not just dnp, like chris and pj are also main characters and they all have a good amount of screentime. i remember it being really idyllic and substantial multi-chapters

I’m pretty sure this is the one you’re describing…

home is where the heart is. (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: 16 year old Daniel Howell had always felt out of place in his dad's fancy apartment or under the Singaporean sun. Life was not bad, but being the son of a British expatriate banker divorcee with commitment issues meant that there was never a home.

Inspired by the only constant in his life, a similar aged British youtuber by the name of Phil Lester, Dan decides to move to his supposed homeland Britain on a whim, in the hopes of escaping his bubble of isolation, and maybe find the place where he truly belonged.

Somehow Dan lands himself in one of the few notorious all boys boarding schools in Britain, one that has bizarre traditions, vicious inter-house competition and way too many attractive boys; and a roommate who had been Dan's best friend all along, even if Phil Lester hadn't known it.

Dan finally found home.

But there’s honestly a lot of these that fit the description, so here’s a few if the first one is wrong!

Hate Me Closer (ao3) - MySecretsX

Summary: Two boys, Dan and Phil, are both from reasonably different backgrounds. Dan's an English scholar from a lower-class family, whereas Phil's parents paid his way into the school with no trouble. But, they'd probably find they weren't so different if they gave each other a chance.

Auburn Independent School for Boys has eight houses, totalling 128 students per year. It's not an easy life for Dan or Phil, but sometimes there's fortune even in the worst of events. It just takes some wits to see it, and maybe a love interest or two.

Ignited (ao3) - Sinncity

Summary: AU superpowers. The lights had been there for as long as Dan can remember. It's apart of him. But sometimes the burning and itching under his skin won't leave until it shines bright and illuminates the sky.

Dan's life changes forever when he is trust into a world of magic and mystery inside the walls of the Nova Institute for the Exceptionally Gifted and Talented.

Nothing Burns Like the Cold (ao3) - worriedpeach (skeletonflowers)

Summary: Phil Lester is ‘special’, having the power to manipulate water with just a flick of his hand. Because of this, he was transferred into the special school, Dahlia Academy, which was built to harbor students with magical abilities. Here, he meets Dan Howell, a cold and distant pyromaniac who doesn’t get close to anyone. (Based loosely off of the manga, Gakuen Alice).

Roommates (ao3) - br0oketrout

Summary: Phil Lester is the new student at a private, prestigious boarding school. His roommate is the infamous, hot, and rather hostile Dan Howell. This is going to be one interesting year.

-Rae

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

maybe i will let myself post the first chapter after i write 10k total words.  I’m at 6k rn and like usually i would have posted the first chapter already but i keep adding stuff to make this modern au make more sense but i think its done and the second chapter has been done  idk i want to be able to talk about it more bc im writing two sides of being nervous about having someone over for a formal dinner and like im having so much fun doing it  

[saetoru]

how are u so good at writing . reveal ur secrets pls . but seriously, what advice would u give ??

HAGDFKJSHDF this is so kind :( to be rly honest, i personally don't have the best relationship with my own writing (as a lot of writers in all realness) so i cant say im rly confident in any advice 😭 but idk hopefully these might help u improve at least—which is always the main goal anyway

i have some advice on writing fics here

and i have advice on writing smut here if u write nsfw

and some more below the cut:

over all i would say that reading all types of media can really help you find a voice in writing—poetry can help you make better metaphors and have a more "deep" / "meaningful" writing voice, reading novels can help you develop an ability to tell stories and build a detailed world, etc. but yeah u can read fanfic, articles, journals, poems, books, wtv u read rly can help u pick up not just ways to develop writing voices, but also you can just learn about the world u know ?? i been reading a few articles about the royal family in the news and its taught a lot about how the inner works of royalty is set up—things that u don't rly take the time to care to know, but in my head as i was reading it i was like omg if i ever wrote a royal au this would be so useful 💀 so yeah, very basic tip, but reading is always number one advice. and again, dont limit urself to one type of writing !! writing is so vast, u can pick up something from any genre of it

also have a certain position / place / set up when u write. i know it sounds kind of dumb at first like okay whats the difference between if i write at my desk vs at my couch but its big !! for me at least. i find that if i try to write anywhere else besides by desk im just more easily distracted and then it cuts my train of thought and my sentences come out choppy and then my flow is ruined. theres actually a big difference in my writing based on location. and having a playlist helps !! whether its of songs with lyrics that inspire you (such as sad songs for angst, romantic ones for something more intimate, etc.) or just plain classical music. classical music has been a game changer for me. (don't ask me for recs i couldn't name a single song or artist if u held a gun to my head LMAONSDFG i just search random spotify playlists)

as far as writing goes, i think its important to start writing when u have a vague ending in mind—you don't always have to have the middle parts figured out, but having an ending can help guide u as u write and pick up momentum and figure out more things to say what the middle part will be to get u to that ending. i almost never write anything without an ending in mind. sometimes its one line and sometimes its an idea / concept of an event that will happen. but yeah an ending can rly help u figure out how to structure a fic !!

figuring out if ur stronger in dialogue vs the commentary portion of writing (for lack of better words LMAO but yall know what i mean—i hope) can also help u !! i think im a bit more dialogue suited as a writer, so a lot of the things i wanna convey, like a character's feelings and thoughts, are shown thru dialogue more often. if u focus more on what ur good at, the other things will kind of come on their own so u can continue—like when i say something thru dialogue that needs some context, the next paragraph might be some background on the character that explains it. which is just basic writing i know skjdhfjgdf but sometimes i just write out like a full convo of dialogue nonstop and go back and actually add the "meat" in between to it afterward. and that's bc the dialogue comes easy to me u know ?? and the commentary / story building in between doesn't, so focusing on one forces me to have to incorporate the other and by then i've somewhat figured out what to write by then. << this method can also rly help u improve ur dialogue too tho if u struggle on that bc seeing a convo just non stop without any background info in between to break it can give u an idea of how it sounds and what the dynamic between two characters is.

also to help with dialogue u can have a convo with yourself out loud 😭 i know that sounds dumb and weird BUT TRUST ME IT RLY HELPS KSHDGDF SOBSOB sometimes u just gotta talk to urself to have a convo flow !! and that way u can also really hear the words and know if they're a bit cheesy or cringe (we have all wrote a cringey dialogue here and there, no shame in it LMAO) but yeah 😭 talking to urself helps

i always suggest breaking things up into scenes that build into a plot. if ur having issues connecting parts of a story, just break it up into scenes. like my shin fic, if u read it (u don't have to for the example dw) but it was like literally like this in my drafts: shin and reader in shop, shin gets upset. shin and reader at home, slight confrontation / sex. shin + waka convo. shin hospital. KJASHGEHF (this sounds so dumb out of context LMAO) but yeah if u do that and then individually write those scenes out, its rly not much different than like maybe writing a drabble, which is far more manageable. and then u can connect them, and boom u have a full length fic !! but yeah that's something that helps me since im still developing my skills to write longer works

also rly discussing characters with friends, reading up on their information, and staying open to discussions that analyze characters is rly important !! we all have our own takes of a character so its okay if they're not always aligning with urs, but sometimes they can help u rly figure out a character and what u feel is their back story and the focal point of who they are—and the more u understand a character, the more describing them and portraying them will be easier. and trust me when u rly feel like u understand a character, the words don't stop, either when ur giving them dialogue or when ur just giving extra back story / commentary.

so yeah that was a bit rambly skhsd im rly sorry about that but i hope that helps a bit !! tysm for the kind ask and it rly did mean a lot to me <3 good luck on ur writing !!

[fandomfan2000]

Song analysis #3 God of Loss

here's a link to the Song

this is fanart of @brightgoat​‘s ask blog @askcupsandcasinos​, a few of the photos I drew were HEAVILY inspired by some of the stuff Bright's drawn so please check out the original blog. 

I think this Lyric\song title relates to Mugman because of his whole ‘spade’ aesthetic, as we know, according to Brightgoat and king Dice, spades are often associated with death and loss. The whole ‘God” part of this title is more or less ironic, after Mugmans little break down when he and cups visited Quadratus, we now know that he’s still suffering from PTSD and is looking to achieve something more then a mere mortal should, which as Quadratus stated will only end in his demise. Making the title of “god of loss” a perfect fit for the mug.

more under cut 

“My father was a carpenter My mother, she died young”

These lyrics essentially just talk about Elder Kettle. He was Mugman and Cupheads Parental figure. He may not have been a “carpenter” but I see that line as more saying that he was humble and a hard worker, instilling these qualities into Mugman & Cuphead (well more or less). “My Mother she died young” is rather self explanatory, even though Elder Kettle didn't die young, he did pass away when the boys were relatively young, which was equally crushing to Cups and Mugs as a guardian dyeing young, if not more because they had no one left. 

“I’m the eldest of my brothers You’re the trouble in my blood Trouble in my blood”

this line also feels self explanatory but I’ll explain it any way. 

Its basically just stating facts, Mugman is “technically older” then cuphead “by like, a minute or something”. Aaaand Cuphead is usually seen as the trouble maker f the 2 whos always getting them roped into trouble. Which I think Mugman, just judging by the way he treats Cuphead does believe that cuphead is trouble.

This also refers to how Mugs’ ancestors and his relation to him has and will cause nothing but trouble. 

“I swore that I’d stay humble Like my father was before He built the home I live in Of sand and mud and smoke Sand and mud and smoke “

This line correlate’s to Elder Kettle having been a very simple and kind man and how the boys see him in a good light. It also serve as an ironic statement as we all know Mugmans main sin is pride.

I see this line as more about Elder Kettle and Mugs’ ancestors and their effect on them, how they helped shape and build Mugs into the person he is. It also seems like a reference to the Bible and how Adam, the first human, was created. In the Bible God made him by taking, I think it was dust I'm not sure though, from the ground and created man, which I think is close enough to “Sand & Mud & smoke” to have a correlation as all those things come from the earth. I figured a reference to the Bible was fitting considering the whole ‘heaven and Hell’ theme.

“Yes, we will leave here without a trace Take a new name and an old shape”

This line correlates to Mugmans fear of death...or more a fear of being forgotten and not accomplishing anything notable his life before passing. It also correlates to Elder Kettles death and how he just disappeared, everything and everyone related to him went missing after his death.

the picture I drew is a redraw of Elder Kettles grave from this post.

This line refers to the parallels between Cuphead & Mugman vs The legendary chalice and her mystery friend whos been hinted at a few times. How their personalities kind of line up, Cuphead & Chalice being the more outgoing risk takers and Mugman & mystery cup being the prideful scientist’s. Meaning Cups & Mugs are the “new names” but really thanks to their ancestors giving them their signature soul powers, are living in “old shapes’ so to speak. Did any of that make any sense??? anyway moving on

“I’ll be no outlaw, no renegade Just your faithful god of loss”

(Eheheh this is my favorite verse it fits so well >:D)

So this just refers to 3 of the main 4′s roles (Devil, King Dice, Mugman) and kinda, maybe, sorta Mug mans internal thoughts. King Dice is a well known and respected outlaw\criminal as we know, having been having been “outlawed across half the globe” if I'm remembering correctly. The Devils whole thing is that he’s a renegade, fighting against his fathers oppressive rule to create change... even if what he’s doing is ultimately pointless. Lastly Mugman. The line relating to him I've already touched on but again its and of more ironic if anything. Mug man is simply the “god of loss”. 

“So meet me by the river On a boat-shaped piece of earth We press our bones together And the spider does its work With flakes of garlic And petals from a rose If it’s small enough to carry You and I can call it home You and I can call it home”

okokok theres a lot to cover here ahhhh...  

“So meet me by the river” could hint at the river of souls running through purgatory, not particularly relevant but considering that's were the Chalice is, its an important setting in the story so that makes this line relevant. 

“We press our bones together” could reference just the characters and how their dynamics help progress the story, haha that comparison is kind of a stretch though. “And the spider does its work” I think refers to the devil (you know how his head can shape shift into a spider and all-) and his family and how their busy in the background, doing things mugs doesn't really understand or know of yet, which have the possibility of negatively impacting the brothers.

“If it’s small enough to carry You and I can call it home”

this refers to how the mystical inkwell and indirectly the memories the brother carry of Elder Kettle, allow them to find ‘home’ anywhere as long as their with each other and have their basic necessities met. The inkwell is small & their memories require no space to take with them, along with the fact that if they could utilize the inkwell they could create a home, and whole worlds for themselves.

annnywayy that concludes song analysis #3 hope you enjoyed’

stay tuned for more~ 

[transgender-bruce-wayne]

also like. child actor bruce

he was kinda clingy with his parents, and so martha would sometimes take him to set, and the directors and producers loved him so much they would add in little roles for him, small things. a quick line or reference for a throwaway joke here and there, or a shot of him in the background. just to include him.

but he was a natural, and soon he was being offered roles. he stars in a few family friendly roles, always the main character. he has his mothers smile, her dimples, and her hair texture. her charm oozes through his line delivery, even at age 6. his mother cameos in his movies now too. and he even does a serious drama, right before the death of his parents. theres talk of nominating him for an oscar in the media. he's 7 or 8 at this point, so he doesnt get nominated, but theres talk, consideration.

and then his parents die, after going to see martha's newest movie (with a bruce cameo, of course) in theaters, like bruce had been begging to for so long. he loved to see his mother on the big screen. his pride for her was otherworldly.

he never stars in a movie again. every couple of months, a tweet will make the rounds of the internet, talking about how much wasted potential bruce had. lex luthor gets into a one sided feud with bruce and calls bruce a "washed out child actor" and the internet goes CRAZY

but no matter how many fans or friends urge bruce to act again, he refuses. it wouldnt feel right without his mother in it with him.

imagining martha wayne as an actress, and thomas wayne as the owner of wayne industries. their relationship would be much more public if martha were in movies, and i think it would add a new twist on the fact that they died after taking bruce to the movie theater

[oriocookie]

drew please give me the ugly doll dream details I’m scrolling ur blog and v intrigued -meri

ok. a few things you need to know: 1) i was seven and had just gotten an ugly doll (the pink one, from the movie) 2) they were advertising for ugly dolls back then and if i remember correctly i saw an advertisement in a mechanic shop window? either it was that or nowadays its a mechanic shop window and back then it was something else 3) this was over 10 years ago so some things are fuzzy, especially dialogue and background details, but i promise i have the main idea of everything i can remember 4) anyone who doesnt have context: i dreamed up the start and what is basically a better plot to the uglydolls movie when i was seven. heres the full thing.

the dream started off with, and i swear to god, the exact same sequence in the movie. with the fuckin duck. he got knocked off the assembly line bc he wasn't perfect and he fell through a pipe and landed in a big pile of fabric scraps and fluff.

he was the main character in my dream and he felt bad that these other dolls always felt terrible about themselves because there were all these posters on the wall of what they were Supposed to look like. He tried to tear them down but they were made of metal and he couldnt get them off.

So he went up into the Boxed World (thats what it was called, everyone stayed in their boxes on the shelf and waited to be shipped out) and found a doll who's box was a little open. i think it was like one of those 18in american girl doll ripoffs. she was staying very still and quiet bc if any of the machines noticed her box was open shed be sent back for repackaging and if they did THAT theyd notice that her hand/thumb (cant remember) was a bit cracked and theyd get rid of her.

so this toy being a squeaky duck, he drew the machines attention, and then she just fuckinf. ran for it. bust out of her box, scooped duckie up, and just ran. duckie pointed out where to go to get to the rejects village and she jumped into the pipe

as she was sliding her hand/thumb broke off(i really think it was her hand but im having so many visuals of a cracked ag doll thumb attached to this memory so who knows)

and they both tumbled into the reject village.

doll was really sad that her hand/thumb came off so one of the other ugly dolls made a mitten to cover it! and she was so proud of it because the mitten matched the rest of her red clothes.

ok so there was a couple things that happened, i dont remember so blah blah blah fast forward

the doll tells the ugly dolls that theres a boat leaving tonight to ship the dolls to different stores. they all hatch a plan to sneak aboard and try to find families of their own. there was a big squishy group hug that i think im still yearning for deep down.

the way they got on the boat was to climb up one of the factory smokestacks and jump. and i remember a bunch of them surrounded the doll and became like a cushion since she might break and the rest of them wouldnt. and they jumped onto the ship and snuck down to the storage rooms, where a boxed doll yelled at them and said they had no place on the boat.

they just left her yelling in her box and hid under a bench?? i think it was?? on the ship deck.

anyway boat starts sinking

there was an unoccupied life boat on the deck and all the dolls clamber inside. then the other dolls in their boxes start floating to the top. one floats close enough and it's the mean doll from before. shes trapped in her box and pounding on the inside and freaking out.

our doll whips off her mitten and uses her jagged hand/thumb to saw through the mean dolls box and bindings and frees her, helping her climb into the lifeboat. she doesnt immediately throw her arms around our doll but shes a lot quieter about sharing a boat with "rejects" (i remember that she called them that bc i had JUST learned that word)

days pass. good thing toys dont need to eat. theyre all asleep in a pile when suddenly the boat bumps up on shore.

the dolls all sit up, falling off each other, and peek over the edge of the boat. the beach is pretty much empty, except for a few fishers and a walker.

the boat starts to slide back into the water, and they all scramble out. after a quick discussion, they decide to just scatter on the beach and hope kids might find them.

the duck takes a seat in the sand, and feels eyes on him. its our doll, watching him fearfully. "i'm scared." she says. "i'm broken."

"so are the rest of us." the duck says, moving to join her. "but i'll stay near you, and maybe someone will pick up both of us."

they both lay back on the sand, a few hours later, a little girl, about four, finds them, and takes them both home.

and every night, they get to snuggle up with their kid.

[website-com]

the difference between breaking bad and better call saul is actually huge from a construction standard just based on what im observing. theres a lot below the cut

im not done with bcs yet but brba was so camp and every single thing in it was a metaphor. especially as the show progressed. every main character has a colour and variants of the colours they wore indicated their mood, their alignments to other characters and shit like that. my favourite part of the show toward the end was how clear it became that every character that wasn’t walt was exactly who he wanted to be. skyler was the provider and protector of the family, gus had unchallenged power, mike was dangerous and respected, even jesse became the best known meth cook for a time. every single person existed to show what a cunt walt was, as a foil. it was almost cartoonish.

bcs so far is cartoonish in a very different way. it’s beautiful, all the shots are static instead of handheld, every frame is a painting. it’s colour language is very different to breaking bad, a focus on primary colours (blue for the law firm, red for crime and yellow for jimmy- best illustrated in how when jimmy and kim had the offices together the walls of her room were painted blue and jimmy’s were orange. the logo he painted on the wall of yellow land and blue sky separated by a brown line (chuck? idk) mirrored on the ceiling. fascinating wtf do it mean) but it’s not as cut and dry as breaking bad was. the colours became almost cartoonish toward the end, one of the most interesting uses imo was when skyler and walt thought they’d gotten away with it before hank exposed them and changed from wearing all black to all white. they are the white family. in bcs the colours are used for framing and subtle hints toward a characters inclinations. they do wear the colours (howard is an interesting example, wearing a suit such a dark blue it’s a little purple. i’m in s4 right now but i’m willing to bet he’s going to turn further south based on colour alone)

btw here are some of the colour basics i noticed so you know where my head is at;

breaking bad;

green and brown are walts colours, green is his bitchy side brown is his looser side. he wears a lot of other colours (yellow, black, white red and blue- ill explain in a bit). not many other characters wear green except for when walt and skyler are about to get divorced but change their mind (shown by wearing one another colours) 

skyler is blue, she also wears some black and white and almost purple (marie) at times. blue is a calm, smart colour. it suits her well. 

jesse is the other character with multiple signature colours. yellow, red and black. im actually rewatching the show right now to get a better read of the colours but so far i think yellow is his dangerous colour (like in danger) and black is depression or whatever. red is just crime in the show.

hank is orange (danger, crime), marie is purple (she does shoplift and has a very chaotic temperament so you can do a bit of mixing), you can assign meanings from their temperaments.

gus is yellow until he needs to be dangerous then he is black and red. (interestingly i dont think he actually got his own colours, he wasnt really in the show for that long, he just borrowed jesse’s)

walt jr wears a lot of colours that you can read into but i often see yellow as one of his signatures, i think it ties him to jesse and makes walt see jesse as a child figure.

saul is interesting, cunt is unreadable in terms of colours. i think its very deliberate to his character. 

in bcs so far (s4);

there are only 3 colours used as motifs (with light and dark keeping their respective meanings of light is happy and dark is sad)

blue, for the law practice. kims preferred colour. im yet to see her without it.

red, for crime.

and yellow for jimmy.

the colours are used in outfits, but more often used in backgrounds to explain where a character is at. you see jimmy in a lot of colours, always blue when hes trying to be a good lawyer. chuck interestingly wears a lot of greys that are bordering on blue. also, looked him up just then to get a feel for his characters colours because theyre rather unremarkable, saw an article saying he is bcs skyler and i need to start killing men. chuck is a huge (slightly sympathetic) cunt that wanted to ruin jimmy because he was unable to see past his past and is in part directly responsible for his downfall, and skyler just wanted to do what was best for her kids and every bad thing that happens to walt is a choice walt made. unbelievable what sexism will do to a viewer. 

also orange is the colour of the shithole filter brba puts over mexico. the show is quite racist but someone else can write abt that i dont understand the intricacies

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

Ok I want to know your take on the Magic Council. Because to me it’s one of the most inconsistent things in fairy tail. Like “the magic council is extremely powerful and fairy tails fears them” and “the magic council ain’t shit”, the council acts like a magic military but also guilds do all the actual work, the magic council holds significant importance and the magic council doesn’t actually do anything.

The thing that’s especially annoying to me is that the concept of the magic council had a lot of potential if it was explored and expanded on in a narrative way. If they had more structure and impact on the story. Especially if the effects of the council were mentioned throughout the story and not just brought up when narratively nessasary for some plot hole or something. I feel as if some great characters who were magic council members could of been written if the council was explored.

Anyway I want to hear your thought on the magic council. How would you fix it/redo it, anything, please. I’m begging.

What can i say except i wish the magic council was used more?

Like from day one it was established that the council is the main military force in universe and exist to monitor and police wizard and guild activity. They're also the ones who create and enforce laws regarding wizards as well as dealing out punishment.

They're basically cops for wizards only, and seeing as how in universe wizards only make up 10% of the overall population its interesting that theres a specific set of laws to deal with such a small percentage of the population (wizard racism? Its more likely than you think)

In universe they've even been around for a long ass time too. With them being noted as far back as Mavis' time a few years after the events of FT Zero (after the events of the second trade war where they passed the Interguild Dispute Interdiction Treaty which prevented guilds from participating in wars)

In my head the council is an extra branch of the government that exists outside of the jurisdiction of the royal family amd has far reaching influence to a few other countries outside of Fiore as well.

They have a large military consisting mostly of non magical people with few mages, they work to disband dark guilds, they confiscate forbidden magical items (they have the lullaby flute after that whole incident) alongside literal magical weapons of mass destruction ( face and etherion). To the general public they're a good force that doesnt sway under the influence of royal whims. To guilds they're a nuisance always on their backs.

But they do shady things. They plant spies in guilds to gather intel and to hopefully destabilize them into disbanding (I hesitate to think that Mest was the only council spy ever. I'd like to think that the council has spies everywhere in guilds). They use S class wizards as public examples of their power, see Erza being arrested in the way early series and do under the quiet shady research projects ( Brain from Oracion Seis was apart of the Bureau of Magical Development which did the experimentation on Ultear. While not canonically apart of the council i like to think that they are).

(I also like to think that Wizards who are possible candidates to become S class have to be tested by the council before the guilds can carry out their own trials. Because i feel as though the council should be involved in that process.)

Wizard Saints? Public figureheads to show companionship between them and the guilds but the saints only have power in title. Nothing more.

They're shady af, and who doesn't love a shady government in stories?

There could've legit been an ongoing thing in the background of the arcs of the council working to destabilize FT in the eyes of the public because FT is one of the few old guilds in operation present and is not only powerful but a inspirational figure that literally thrives on going against the law(wouldnt want more of those popping up would you?). If it goes logically others trying to follow in FT's footsteps will fall in line and be easier to control.

It could've gone on that the council got real close to their goal of tearing fairy tail down but due to the events of tartarus (see Jackal crazy murdering everyone) they literally lost almost all their forces and had to be built from ground up.

Mest, being one of the few original council members of a high position, gets promoted and having seen both sides of the situation from his spying days rebuilds the council by doing more work alongside wizards and guilds thus bettering the relations, law reforms, decomissioning the weapons of mass destruction, working with the royal family on stuff yadda yadda yadda resulting in good magic council in the end blah blah blah.

But thats just my 2 cents i suppose °3°

[sortagaysortahigh]

I’ve been seeing a ton of discourse lately surrounding both popekie and jiara stans and just kiara’s character overall so me being me, i’ve decided to add my two cents into things. Now before I start let me preface this with it is a commonly known fact that I do not like jiara stans because back in the early obx fandom days I was on the receiving end of death threats, hate, racism, homophobia, and overall bullshit because I pointed out multiple issues surrounding race in the shows writing. But with that being said this isnt a post to bash anyone, but genuinely i think we should be talking about kiaras character and her flaws from a writing and sociological perspective. 

My biggest issue with Kiara Carrera as a character is that she’s used as a pawn to help with everyone elses character growth while we know little to nothing about her personally. We hardly even know of her ethnic background other than the fact that she is assumedly afro-latina. When I say she’s used as a pawn I mean from both a platonic and romantic sense within her friend group. Let’s start with John B and the underlying tone throughout the show that she’s in love with him. He makes it known that he has a thing for her, he goes as far as to kiss her, he treats her as if she’s just another girl that wants to be romantically involved with himself and is used as a plot device to create tension within the group when he rebounds and ends up with sarah. Also the line “did you tell JJ” leans into the fact that John B and JJ are so close to one another, it further emphasizes their relationship and friendship bond that has been established over years. In a writing sense its emphasizing the element of loyalty and “bro-code” in a friendship. it does nothing for Kiara’s character. She’s also the one who comforts him and forces everyone else to have a hopeful mindset of oh maybe his dad didn’t croak when he was lost at sea-which does give us some insight into her being a caring friend but there’s also a large stereotype that ive pointed out in the past that always becomes evident to me as an afro latina as I watch the show-specifically the episode when kie smacks john b in the craine house. She’s meant to be seen as “fiesty” and “not like other girls” which is genuinely off putting to me because it emphasizes the underlying tone of “oh that smack was so hot” to the viewer and to the male gaze (which this show was written through). Kiara is literally used to make John B seem more attractive and seem like some godsend because she constantly turns back to helping him, even when he’s hopeless-which ofc is a big part of being the main character.

Now onto her relationship with JJ, I take this relationship as very platonic because while he admits that he’s tried to shoot his shot at her in the past she’s curved him and she’s stuck on that “pogues dont fuck with pogues” nonsense (which irl is something that ruins friendgroups). I think that Kiara is seen to care so much for JJ because it’s written out that JJ is essentially viewed as the island fuck up, his family is full of drunks and addicts that survive off of being genuinely bad people which based on learned helplessness-he sees himself becoming that. And that’s highlighted when theyre convincing John B of the plan-JJ sees himself as having nothing to risk in life because he’ll just end up like his family. Kiara being the caring friend that she is wants him to want more for himself, and she’s also very protective of her friends (which is highlighted in the “this is a POGUE thing” scene with sarah on the porch. I don’t think she’s supposed to be romantically involved with him and if she ends up being that then yeah I might be crushed as someone who doesnt ship jiara-but if they add that element into season two then it’s not gonna be written well whatsoever because theres so much going on and truly if they add in the element of “no i can fix you!” bc he’s a traumatized 16 year old, it’s not gonna work and it might be seen as heavily triggering towards young victims of abuse. I definitely can see that JJ might have a crush on homegirl or just genuinely be protective over her (which is also very adament in her relationship with pope as well) but this circles back to my original point. Kiara is used to show everyone elses’s personality traits or place emphasis on their storylines but she never really has her own. Another thing, please for the love of god stop using the hottub scene to justify any ships. that is a scene that shows JJ’s traumas and the negative impacts of domestic physical abuse and child abuse. I don’t give two fucks if she hugged him first before pope did, do not equate being there for your traumatized friends to being in love with them. 

Now moving towards her relationship with Pope. I see this relationship as very platonic as well, at least from her end. Of course it’s written throughout the entire show that Pope has a crush on Kiara and genuinely it’s like one of his only fucking personality traits (which I hate, and i’ve made posts about the lack of character development in Pope before). This relationship to me is honestly extremely under developed and we see that his crush on Kiara is a motivating factor for a lot of his decisions and I personally feel like Pope is also written to be the nerd that succumbs to peer pressure to impress the girl who doesn’t really want much to do with him. However Kiara is protective of Pope, but at the same time her protectiveness also emphasizes the viewpoint that pope is uwu soft and essentially weak. When she jumps into the fight and immediately runs to Pope’s side who at the moment is getting his ass handed to him by two guys vs when JJ was fighting two guys he seemed to be fine (i.e. painting pope as weak), she protects him, she burns the projector screen to protect them both. When Rafe is choking Kie out (hatecriming her, honestly rafe hatecrimes a lot of fucking people someone get him a leash and a prison sentence), he runs to her defense which paints pope as both the knight in shining armor but it also enforces a very negative stereotype (which a lot of obx racist ass stans allude to) aka him being the angry black man bc a switch flipped in his head. Now lets circle back a few episodes/scenes ago when Pope admits he loves Kiara and she’s like “I want somethign different!” i personally think that this is really a great scene for kiara because for once we get to see what she genuinely wants, and it alludes to her friendship with Sarah which is something that the writing of the show slacked on. However she moves Pope’s character along, she’s a big trigger that flips the switch in his head because rejection is clearly written/alluded to as one of Popes many fears in life. She’s the catalyst to his breakdown (but so is the rtest of the friendgroup honestly). 

My issue here is that in all of these relationship/dynamic analysis we see more of what she as a character does that pushes the development of other characters vs her own personal development. We literally got jack shit from Kiara in terms of her background or her past other than shitty moments that are like “your kook year!” or “you’re like the rest of them”-kooky bullshit. We peer into what it was like for her at the kook academy for all of five minutes but that is used to describe Sarah’s character as the golden girl turned queen bitch. Not to mention the lack of understanding race in that writers room-i’ve made so many posts about the lack of understanding surrounding the racial characteristics and environmental factors that impact these black and brown characters on obx and genuinely i could rant about it for hours. Kiara being seen as a hottie and having the guys in her friend group having a crush on her is like eh ok it happens irl i guess, but from my perspective (once again im afro latina and I have a degree in sociology, plus i do have a background w film analysis) the lack of writing surrounding kiara’s ethnic background overall alongside the “shes not like other girls” nonsense alludes to people being interested in her not only for her personality but because she fits into the stereotypically harmful “exotic girl” archetype which goes hand in hand with fetishization. As a black girl I LOVE it when we see black girls getting the attention and recognition they deserve but i genuinelly feel that obx missed the mark on that for Kiara’s character and that she deserves so much more than to be seen as the hot girl all of her friends are into and the character that helps others grow while she’s just there. She’s meant to be a main character so I’m gonna need the obx writers to present her as such before I box jonas pate in a wendys parking lot.

[dontjudgemeimawriter]

2, 5, and 8, pls? For the relationship ask game?

2. Which character has the strongest hatred for another character? In your opinion, is this hatred justified?

Probably Mika's hatred of Zachary. And yes. It is. This man manipulated her and her brother, made them into killers, put her brother in a situation that hirt him so much he'd rather die than continue hurting people, ordered his death, and continues to control her and make her feel like she can never leave. Oh and has burned her. Unlike Raymond, she's been in constant contact with him (also Mika holds a gudge much more than Raymond), and unlike Terran, she doesn't habe any odd lingering love from him being who raised her-- her mom will always be Ariel, who's fault was (she's guessing) probably Zachary's fault too.

5. In your story, are there more close relationships between family, or between friends? Talk about one of these relationships, and why they’re so close.

A mix honestly... the strongest, most explored relationship (good or bad) is Terran and Raymond, which is friendship (well theres romantic stuff too but thats not the question). Mika and Raymond are family, though, and Terrna and Zachary are family. But I'm gunna go with Raymond and Terran and their freindship because it's the most important positive relationship.

They're close because, to be honest, they very quickly become the only other person who knew them and what they're going through. Terran didn't kill Raymond when he was supposed to and instead faked his death-- and instantly they were the only one the other had. (I want to be clear, this IS toxic, and it would be if nothing changes. Luckily it will) This happened with a little less dependence though, and they were physically and emotionally seperate for a long time.

Raymond is learning... to be angry, demand better. He's learning to stand up for himself. Because something important about Raymond in their relationship is that Raymond would forgive Terran for anything. And Terran is learning to relax, to trust someone else, so he doesn't jump to controlling everything.

But. Positive things... they feel safe with each other. They will both stop doing smth or sacrifice if it's for the other. When they're together, it's possible to put everything else aside for a little while and be happy in each other's company.

8. Which two characters have known each other the longest? What is their relationship like?

TW: Abuse

Terran & Zachary. I mean technically Zachary has known others for longer but those relationships are more in the background. Zachary raised Terran since he was 3 years old. Mika and Raymond didn't come in until later.

Zachary got custody of Terran when he was 3. Zachary's brother, Nicholas, and Nicholas' (wife? Girlfriend?) Ally, had just died. Zachary was angry at his brother though, not mourning him, and that context framed their relationship. (Specifying why is a spoiler, but i wanted to include this even though Terran doesn't really know it)

This is one of an abusive parent, though think more discipline-side of abusive than volatile (it WAS physically abusive, but it was also emotionally). Terran was raised to be a killer-- very well. Enough that Zachary actually WAS proud of him. Zachary raised him to be a killer answering to HIM, not the Judge. And raised him to kill the way he thought was best: with a lot of precaution and planning, and without too much reliance on magic.

If Terran messed up, he'd get burned. This was a normal result when he was a kid. Doing things right would get praise, but Terran's main motivation as a kid was avoidance of pain. He wanted more praise than he ever got.

After saving Raymond and going on to try to avoid killing as much as he could, this relationship complicated. He was angry at Zachary, feared him more than ever before... but not much has changed. Terran still yearns for Zachary's approval.

Zachary sees Terran as a success, though it's not his nature to show it. Zachary only trusts himself, but within the Syndicate, his own trainee may be the only other one who he can trust if he needs to, because Zachary hates the Judge and no one else will cross him.

Ty so much for the ask! From this

[hamliet]

when does a relationship become queerbaiting? theres a book that i really like and the 2 male leads characters have a lot of storylines and arcs where they get closer and i think some of the tropes used can be similar to the typical romantic tropes, neither of them end up with anyone at the end of the story since its more about found family and the long journey the whole cast goes through. they even get shipped by another character as a running gag. personally i always saw it as being open to interpretation but recently the revised edition of the original novel came out and there were several lines those 2 characters had about each other that were kinda toned down, i didnt think much of it but i saw a post about how it was clearly baiting and the author was being homophobic for toning it down. i didnt think it counted as baiting since as far as i know, the novel was never advertised as anything with romance and the author never pretended they were gonna end up together. i am definitely a little weirded out by the decision to change those specific lines but a lot of the story stayed the same, including a lot about their relationship so idk what to think.

i guess im more confused on if it counts as baiting, or even substext??

Sooooo I am not the best person to ask about this, because I’m a cis woman who has thus far in life only been attracted in a romantic sense to cis men. I can talk a bit about baiting as a general concept in fiction, but you should definitely take it with some grains of salt. 

Baiting, for me, is like deliberately playing up an aspect writers have no intention on delivering on. Usually this is done for ratings, to tease fans, fanservice, etc, but without payoff, it is just bad writing. Red herrings are good in writing, but only can be successfully used if the actual result is more satisfying than the herring. This applies to writing in general, not just to romantic ships. However, when the baiting involves historically underrepresented groups for no reason other than to get fans to spend money consuming the story, I think we can all agree that becomes something more grotesque than just bad writing: it’s insensitive, socially irresponsible, frankly hurtful. 

Some common examples are Bridgerton which has a gay character, who is extremely minor, yet they played up this character in advertising. Also, Rizzoli and Isles I think actually had its producers mention deliberately playing up the lesbian subtext to hook the audience without ever intending on following through. 

That said, context also matters. Like, there are aspects of the culture of the work’s author, the target audience, and such that come into play here also (so like, romantic tropes differ by culture. For example, enemies to lovers is common in Asian stories but less in the west, and the “girl who pursues a guy” is extremely common in Japanese shonen in particular, while it is very much a cringe trope that almost never results in romance in American fiction. So if a writer reads, say, tropes that are common in America into a Japanese work and says it’s baiting, that’s quite possibly not the intent even if it may have been the experience of the reader. So even if there was no intent, there can still be hurt, and that hurt can be real, if that makes sense. 

The definition of what constitutes ‘baiting’ varies. I do think that, in true Tumblr fashion, the term gets thrown around a lot and loses its intended meaning, or is so rigidly defined that creators can meet the letter of the “not a bait” requirement while ignoring the spirit of it.

To start with the latter: regarding something hitting the letter of what most wouldn’t consider baiting yet not really the spirit, let’s look at The Rise of Skywalker. This movie had a genuine lesbian kiss in it... between two characters we’d never seen more than a glimpse of while others are celebrating around them. Since it has a kiss, it’s not baiting, right? Well... the director deliberately said in the lead-up to the film that he included it because he “wanted LGBT people to see themselves in the film.” If “see yourselves in the film” is like a nanosecond of background, then, like... idk. Baiting or not, it feels icky, and I know some people consider it baiting and some don’t even if they don’t like, love that representation. But I think this is more queerbaiting than like, Nobara and Maki, who don’t have explicit romantic coding. 

Going back to the former, in terms of ‘queerbaiting’ losing its intended meaning... I think there are a lot of really poorly written romantic ships out there, often het, while a lot of same-gender relationships are really well written regardless of whether there’s romantic coding within the text. The main emotional energy in stories with 90% male characters (as frankly many if not most stories are, great job world) is probably between two men. There’s just so much more potential with well-written characters who share a lot of screen time, so of course people are going to ship them. In my opinion, this does not inherently make it baiting, but it certainly creates an environment that lends itself to baiting even if the writers aren’t intending to do this. 

Like, you could say the main emotional energy in BNHA is Bakugou and Deku. However, Bakudeku is 100% not queerbaiting. It’ll never be canon romantically (I don’t even ship it lol). There has been nothing to imply romance between them even if the main emotional message can be seen in their development. Deku/Ochaco is likely to be canon, but there is a significant lack of genuine emotional energy between them (the story’s plots and themes don’t coalesce around their relationship), so it’s probably going to feel forced. In contrast, Naruto/Sasuke had an actual kiss in canon, which while played for laughs is a lot more direct romantic coding than anything between Bakugou/Deku. I actually don’t think the majority of Narusasu is baiting, but I definitely think that one moment in chapter like 3 was really poor fanservice for yaoi fans, and has not aged well at all. 

It is also the case that fans can confuse headcanons with what is actually in the text, and that just never ends well. For example, Clover and Qrow’s ship in RWBY: a lot of people read Clover as gay, which led to “bury your gays” outrage when he died. A member of the crew stated explicitly they had never intended for Clover to be a love interest for Qrow, and truthfully here was nothing strictly romantic in their relationship--nothing like a kiss or a declaration of love or a parallel to another romantic couple. Hence, I don’t personally consider it queerbaiting or bury your gays, but a lot of fans felt that it was and their pain is legitimate even if I think textually the argument isn’t there. The one thing I do think is true about this in particular is that there was also no strict platonic coding, which encourages headcanons. Clear writing, yo. It can help. 

Note the word “can” not “will,” because strict platonic coding doesn’t always fix things, either. In what was probably a reaction to the outrage over Clover’s death, you had extremely blatant platonic coding of Ruby and Penny’s relationship this season leading up to Penny’s death. Ruby refers to Penny as “our friend” three different times, wherein “friend” sends a platonic message and “our” sends an even stronger message that it’s not about the two of them despite the fact that their friendship is one of the sweetest and most interesting in the show. A lingering Ruby-Penny hug then is followed by a lingering Penny-Weiss hug, then Yang, then Blake, etc. The writers went out of their way to hit people over the head with “platonic” and yet they have still gotten accusations of bury your gays and queerbaiting because people will see what they want to see in a story. 

Seeing what you want to see in a story also isn’t inherently bad. People who are underrepresented are going to have to read themselves into stories because Lord knows writers ain’t incorporating them well enough if at all. It’s why “Mary Sues” are common in fanfiction, which is primarily written by people who are not straight white men: because where the hell else are we to see ourselves in fiction? So essentially the macrocosm of culture creates this problem, both in terms of baiting and the misuse of the term, and the only fix is a shit ton more good representation.